How to Charge Li Po Batteries

Allow the battery to cool before charging. Never charge a hot battery. If the battery was just used and is still hot, it needs to cool first. Once cooled, proceed to charging.

Turn on the charger. Plug the charge cable into the charger. This is the device that connects the charger to the Li Po batteries.

Connect the battery to the charge cable. Always connect the cables to the charger before the batteries to prevent shorting the batteries.

Look at the battery and look for the voltage. The voltage is listed on the battery. According to RC Toys, the voltage is commonly 7.4 volts or 11.1 volts. To determine the voltage for the battery, look at the number of cells listed and the volt setting listed on the battery. Multiply the volt setting, which is usually 3.7 volts, by the battery cells, which are also usually listed on the battery. Set the voltage setting upon finding the voltage.

Set the current in the charger. Current is determined by the battery capacity divided by one hour. The battery capacity is typically listed on the battery, such as 1320mAh. Divide the capacity by 1,000 to get 1.32. The current is then 1C. Put the current setting into the charger. It is important to always calculate the current and voltage because overcharging or charging at a higher rating than the battery can take will result in an explosion. According to RC Heli, even if the charger automatically sets the voltage and current, double checking the settings will ensure that it does not read the battery incorrectly.

Allow the battery to charge. Once the current and voltage are set properly, the battery will charge automatically and the charger will stop charging when the battery is fully charged.